In certain wireless communications systems, a user equipment (UE) initiates cell search by scanning for Primary Synchronization Signals (PSS) and then Secondary Synchronization Signals (SSS) to identify a set of candidate cell identities (cell ID). Given a candidate cell ID, the UE then attempts to detect and measure the Cell-Specific Reference Signals (CRS) of the candidate cell. If the signal quality (signal power, Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP)) of the cell meets a certain criteria, the UE attempts to access the cell or if the UE has already connected to a serving cell, the UE may report its measurement result as well as the identity of the cell to the network.